Sierra Leone Lebanese Spokesman Lashing Out Against Almost Everybody Else
March 09, 03
"Over the years, diamond exporters of the Lebanese community have not only boosted the [Sierra Leonean] diamond industry, but have contributed immensely to the economy. The value of the diamonds exported not only helped to keep in check the exchange rate of the Leone against other currencies, but was used by importers to import essential food items, medicines, rice and building materials. It is the foreign exchange generated from these exports that have kept goods on the shelves during the difficult [civil war] periods that our country Sierra Leone had passed through," declared S. Hassanyeh, the President of the Lebanese community of Sierra Leone, who was grateful for "having an opportunity to answer most of the allegations levied against my community which are untrue and are not based on any evidence whatsoever".
As the small Lebanese community in Sierra Leone controls most (probably close to 90%) of the local diamond business, as well as having a virtual monopoly on the imports of rice, cement, building materials, etc, it is undoubtedly correct to state that the Lebanese control the exchange rate as the dollar cash economy is largely in their hands. During the recent civil war, the rebels allowed the continued operation of many of the Lebanese diamond offices in Kenema and Bo, so, indeed, during the times of hardship, the community was able to "keep the goods on the shelves".
The forum provided by a Freetown diamond sector conference organized jointly by the governments of the United States and United Kingdom was used by the Lebanese spokesman to refute "the allegations of links with terrorism by members of my community and [allegations of] dealings with blood diamonds [which] are also without foundations, and the particular Lebanese diamond dealers named [in the Partnership Africa Canada (PAC) report entitled War and Peace in Sierra Leone], namely Aziz Nassour and Samih Ossailly, unknown in Sierra Leone for the past twenty five to thirty years, as they have never lived in Sierra Leone and therefore no records exist of any of their business transactions".
This is in marked contrast to the PAC report which says "Ossailly first appeared in Sierra Leone in 1997, after a bloody coup brought Major Johnny Paul Koroma to power together with the RUF. He was introduced to the new junta by a Freetown-based Lebanese diamond dealer named Darwish. Ossailly, with Nassour, was already the major buyer of RUF diamonds in Liberia. Ossailly supplied four containers of army uniforms and other military hardware to the Koroma junta, apparently in exchange of diamonds." It may well be that Mr. Hassanyeh was not aware of such activity.
Government officials at the Freetown meeting acknowledged that the lion's share of the Sierra Leone diamond production is still smuggled out, but this didn't prevent Mr. Hassanyeh (an insurance man himself) to lash out against the PAC report's author, who "in the general allegation of smuggling has not supported these allegations with any concrete evidence from any reputable source."
"Eighty percent of all official rough diamond exports are made by four companies of the Lebanese community in Sierra Leone," he says, and though "I would like to restate that like any other community we do have our rotten apples, the vast majority of my community are law abiding and decent members of society. Over the years large numbers of smugglers and criminals from many parts of the world came into Sierra Leone, staying at guest houses and hotels and without any links of loyalty to Sierra Leone, and without any form of diamond licenses, purchase diamonds illegally and smuggle them out of the country, with great loss to the economy and Sierra Leone. These fly by night businessmen contribute immensely to the plunder of this country's resources. They do not contribute to employment. They do not pay any taxes and therefore do not contribute to the economy. Yet nobody mentions them in the allegations of smuggling," thundered the clearly embittered and angry Lebanese spokesman.
The PAC report describes the problem of the foreigners in a different way. "Lebanese diamond dealers are quick to contain outsiders venturing into what they consider their turf, especially western investors who appear on the scene with more money, and with an unfashionably determination to do business in a formal way. … Price fixing is notorious among Lebanese traders in Sierra Leone and it is one of the reasons why they resent other competitors in the business. Once a diamond has been submitted to a Lebanese trader and he declares a price for it, the miner is unlikely to find a better price for that diamond anywhere in town: if a bargain is not struck, the Lebanese, who dominate the business, will phone other dealers and tell them to offer an even lower price for that particular gem," says the PAC report.
As the PAC report has been well publicized in the diamond world, it is certainly informative to get a reaction of one the major groups targeted by the Canadian human rights group. The clearly angry statement by the Lebanese spokesman was met with some bewilderment by many members of the audience. The real significance of the statement was, however, not in its content, but in the fact that the Lebanese community has now formally joined the dialogue which, eventually, will lead to diamond sector reforms and improve the plight of the hundreds of thousands of largely impoverished diggers. Making his presentation just before luncheon, in more ways than one did the Lebanese spokesman provide some food for thought. Thoughts which ought to be kept to ourselves, for the sake of the continued dialogue.